DOI Artikel:
Miodońska, Barbara: Rex regum i rex Poloniae w dekoracji malarskiej Graduału Jana Olbrachta i Pontyfikału Erazma Ciołka: z zagadnień ikonografii władzy królewskiej w sztuce polskiej wieku XVI
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.26594#0226
REX REGUM t REX POLOMAE
Virgin Mary — the motif of the chosen Bride of the King, taken from Psalm 44 (45).
From the same Psaim are taken the texts for the Masses common to the feasts of virgin
saints. The miniaturist used a system of composition and iconographic motifs from the
range of representations in Late Gothic art of which the subject was the Incarnation
of Christ and the Triumph of Mary. Here again are found elements common to the
representations of Mary — the Temple Servitors, the Assumption, the Immaculate
Conception of Mary surrounded by emblems from the Song of Songs, and Mary as
the leader of a choir of virgins. The motif which focuses the ideological meanings
contained in this representation is the great crown which God the Father holds over
the head of His Bridge. This crown is the sign of the sanctity, mercy and praise due
to all God's Chosen; it is the crown of eternal life, the reward for Mary's services
and the sign of her freedom from sin; it is the personal distinction of the Mother of
God, it is the sign of her reign over the world. According to its etymology it is the
wreath of the bride, the counterpart of the crowns worn by brides in the late Middle
Ages. In the metaphorical sense it denotes Mary as the most excellent being of her kind,
for it unites the prerogative of virginity with the glory of motherhood; Mary, who like
the holy city of Jerusalem "will be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord and a royal
.220 diadem in the hand of God" (Isaiah 61, 3; zAybrzA z?MzA%<3 yzoxt Dommi-
cam żercżam HJvezzR). The miniature in John Albert's Gradual is an iconographic
innovation in Polish painting. The two representations of Mary most closely resem-
bling it, the Assumption of Our Lady in the Jasna Góra Missal, commissioned by John
Albert (Library of the Pauline Convent in Jasna Góra — Clara Mons, No. 583,
fol. 274 ' ), and the Immaculate Conception in Erazm Ciolek's Pontifical (folio XXIV "),
clearly originated from it, constituting a partial reduction and transformation of the
subject of the archetype.
<]. The Sanctus.
/.'e.y ref/Mut, T)omń)Ms (łoM)tnoMfłMm.
The Earthly and Heavenly Liturgy
(Part I, folio IT"; Part II, folio 26"; Part HI, folio 17") ills. 10, 11, 13 and 46—51
The RcmctMS of the Mass is a liturgical development of the Old Testament acclamation
of God (Isaiah 6, 3), the threefold cry raised by the angels to the glory of the Lord
God of Hosts (DozzrzAHX Dezrs ,SA5a.otA). In the Gradual the accompanying minia-
tures depict the Adoration of the Holy Trinity by angels (Parts I and II) and men (Part
III). This subject derives from a very old iconographic tradition developed mter
alia on the pages of sacranrerHaHa.. The honour paid to God takes the form of a li-
turgical song. God is represented, in accordance with St Augustine's interpretation,
as the Holy Trinity with the attributes of the Ruler of the World (Rex rcgam., Dozzrr-
azrx <fomzaazz.tzAzn). The Father and Son, in spite of the difference in appearance,
have been given the same attributes; the imperial closed crown and the orb sur-
mounted by a cross. The Dove, the Holy Ghost, hovers over the golden reg/mm. In
the miniature accompanying Rcmz^Mx II the "seat" of the Holy Trinity has the traits
of a throne and an altar. The representation of the subject of the heavenly liturgy
(Parts I and II) and the earthly liturgy (Part III) are united by the same text of the
Mass to show that the public cult of the Church (the choir of acolytes with precentors
in Part III) imitates the form of the honour paid to the Lord of Hosts by the angels.
The Church on earth joins in this homage in the common "offering of praise" (AosRa
:A&Ro.(zon.zx according to the medieval liturgical definition), which is a sign that the
Virgin Mary — the motif of the chosen Bride of the King, taken from Psalm 44 (45).
From the same Psaim are taken the texts for the Masses common to the feasts of virgin
saints. The miniaturist used a system of composition and iconographic motifs from the
range of representations in Late Gothic art of which the subject was the Incarnation
of Christ and the Triumph of Mary. Here again are found elements common to the
representations of Mary — the Temple Servitors, the Assumption, the Immaculate
Conception of Mary surrounded by emblems from the Song of Songs, and Mary as
the leader of a choir of virgins. The motif which focuses the ideological meanings
contained in this representation is the great crown which God the Father holds over
the head of His Bridge. This crown is the sign of the sanctity, mercy and praise due
to all God's Chosen; it is the crown of eternal life, the reward for Mary's services
and the sign of her freedom from sin; it is the personal distinction of the Mother of
God, it is the sign of her reign over the world. According to its etymology it is the
wreath of the bride, the counterpart of the crowns worn by brides in the late Middle
Ages. In the metaphorical sense it denotes Mary as the most excellent being of her kind,
for it unites the prerogative of virginity with the glory of motherhood; Mary, who like
the holy city of Jerusalem "will be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord and a royal
.220 diadem in the hand of God" (Isaiah 61, 3; zAybrzA z?MzA%<3 yzoxt Dommi-
cam żercżam HJvezzR). The miniature in John Albert's Gradual is an iconographic
innovation in Polish painting. The two representations of Mary most closely resem-
bling it, the Assumption of Our Lady in the Jasna Góra Missal, commissioned by John
Albert (Library of the Pauline Convent in Jasna Góra — Clara Mons, No. 583,
fol. 274 ' ), and the Immaculate Conception in Erazm Ciolek's Pontifical (folio XXIV "),
clearly originated from it, constituting a partial reduction and transformation of the
subject of the archetype.
<]. The Sanctus.
/.'e.y ref/Mut, T)omń)Ms (łoM)tnoMfłMm.
The Earthly and Heavenly Liturgy
(Part I, folio IT"; Part II, folio 26"; Part HI, folio 17") ills. 10, 11, 13 and 46—51
The RcmctMS of the Mass is a liturgical development of the Old Testament acclamation
of God (Isaiah 6, 3), the threefold cry raised by the angels to the glory of the Lord
God of Hosts (DozzrzAHX Dezrs ,SA5a.otA). In the Gradual the accompanying minia-
tures depict the Adoration of the Holy Trinity by angels (Parts I and II) and men (Part
III). This subject derives from a very old iconographic tradition developed mter
alia on the pages of sacranrerHaHa.. The honour paid to God takes the form of a li-
turgical song. God is represented, in accordance with St Augustine's interpretation,
as the Holy Trinity with the attributes of the Ruler of the World (Rex rcgam., Dozzrr-
azrx <fomzaazz.tzAzn). The Father and Son, in spite of the difference in appearance,
have been given the same attributes; the imperial closed crown and the orb sur-
mounted by a cross. The Dove, the Holy Ghost, hovers over the golden reg/mm. In
the miniature accompanying Rcmz^Mx II the "seat" of the Holy Trinity has the traits
of a throne and an altar. The representation of the subject of the heavenly liturgy
(Parts I and II) and the earthly liturgy (Part III) are united by the same text of the
Mass to show that the public cult of the Church (the choir of acolytes with precentors
in Part III) imitates the form of the honour paid to the Lord of Hosts by the angels.
The Church on earth joins in this homage in the common "offering of praise" (AosRa
:A&Ro.(zon.zx according to the medieval liturgical definition), which is a sign that the